"If you speak to United fans, he has to win a trophy in the first year," Cole observed to the Daily Mirror. "Capital One Cup, FA Cup, Premier League, whatever. A trophy. It has got to be.

"It is not a case of 'well, the manager has changed and we will settle for third or fourth'. No. Trophy, definitely. He has to hit the ground running, that is the nature of football. Same for [Jose] Mourinho at Chelsea, [Manuel] Pellegrini at City. Everyone has to get it going quickly.

"Is it an impossible job? It is a very tough job, a very, very tough job. To a certain extent you look at it and think: 'Wow, how can you follow a manager who has won that many trophies and of that stature?'

"But [a trophy] could also give the United players a lift. No-one will want to let him down. They will want to keep winning. They will want to keep the trophies coming for Manchester United and the new manager."

The former United forward also believes that Ferguson could help to smooth over the transition of the managerial change, though only if Moyes requests it.

Cole added: "There is a lot of speculation about whether Sir Alex will be here a lot because he is a director. People ask whether he will be there watching over Moyes, like Sir Matt [Busby] did when he stepped down. We will have to wait and see.

"He is always on the end of the phone. If you get into a position when times are tough, you should ask for help. As a player, too, as a young pro, if you have a sticky patch, you speak to a senior pro. If it gets sticky for Moyes, he will have a word with the manager.

"He will find expectation levels are on a whole new level for him but Moyes has to keep doing what he has been doing, only he will find everything is on a different scale.

"He is a very good manager. He has done a very good job on a limited budget at Everton but we all know that Manchester United is a whole different entity. He will have money to spend, be able to buy the best players that he wants and he will find that, at a top club, he has to start winning immediately."